In the first round of the Champions Trophy, England’s pace bowlers had the fastest average speed of any country. England also lost their first game comfortably.
To English fans reared on enviously watching Australia’s pace, these two facts sit a little incongruously alongside each other. But as Josh Inglis continually rocked back to pull the ball into the on side, it was a reminder of the limits of pace alone. If speed is necessary for a high-class bowling attack, it is certainly not sufficient.
England’s preoccupation with speed can be explained by two Test matches at Adelaide, four years apart. In the first innings of the 2017 Adelaide Test, Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes returned combined figures of four for 230. Then, in the first innings of the 2021 Adelaide Test, the trio returned combined figures of four for 234. These struggles distilled a simple truth. No matter how skilful individual bowlers are, a homogenous attack, based around right-arm bowlers operating a little over 80mph, is not best placed to succeed in all conditions.
Ever since, English cricket has become preoccupied with pace. Rob Key, England’s managing director, told county bowlers last year: “I don’t care how many wickets you take. I want to know how hard you are running in, how hard you are hitting the pitch and are you able to sustain pace at 85-88mph.” England have launched a ‘pace project’, aimed at helping emerging players develop extra pace.
More than anything else, England have prioritised pace in their selection. As well as Mark Wood, England have also picked Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse and Olly Stone in Test cricket in the last year. All have vindicated England’s belief in the merits of speed.
Yet in Lahore, Wood, Carse and Jofra Archer returned combined figures of three for 226 from 26.3 overs. Australia’s seam attack, comprising two left-armers and Nathan Ellis, has far less demonstrative virtues. But their array of cutters and slower balls demonstrated a subtlety that England lacked. From their 27 overs, Australia’s seamers returned combined figures of three for 173 – conceding 6.4 an over, compared with England’s 8.5. For all the allure of pace, England’s seam attack was made to look as predictable as the Test vintage at Adelaide in 2017 and 2021.
Atkinson and Jamie Overton, two of England’s back-up quicks, follow the same template as those picked in Lahore. Saqib Mahmood’s new-ball swing and ability to reverse-swing the old ball would at least offer a slightly different threat.
But the bulk of England’s bowlers who could emulate Australia’s crafty tactics are not in Pakistan. The Curran brothers, Sam and Tom, and left-armer David Payne would all give the seam attack a different balance. So, too, would Matthew Potts, who took eight wickets at 24.7 against Australia last September. Yet Potts was swiftly dropped from the one-day international side. Those impressive numbers evidently counted for less than the comparatively modest figures he obtained from the speed gun.
Such a dogmatic emphasis on pace has become a feature of England’s recent struggles at global events. In the 2023 World Cup, amid talk of England prioritising “ball speed”, Atkinson and Wood returned combined figures of 10 for 495 from 78 overs. No matter his lack of pace, David Willey took 11 wickets at 23.5, swinging the new ball and bowling cutters later. But Willey was unwanted until the fourth game of the tournament, and so miffed by not being awarded a central contract that he retired immediately after the competition.
In the 2024 T20 World Cup, England once again embraced pace, pairing Archer and Wood. Wood floundered, conceding 90 from eight overs against Test opposition. He was dropped before the T20 World Cup semi-final in Guyana. But England still made a major tactical error – picking four seamers. Left-arm spinner Tom Hartley was in the squad but did not play all tournament. Liam Dawson, whose record in franchise cricket around the world suggests that he should have been in the squad for both the 2023 and 2024 World Cups – and quite possibly the Champions Trophy too – has long since been resigned to not playing for England again.
Adil Rashid’s continued excellence makes England’s focus on wrist spin understandable. But, like overlooking slower seamers, ignoring finger spinners hints at how England’s default has become to pick the more glamorous option.
Perhaps there is also a lesson for the Ashes. To the management’s great credit, England will not go to Australia suffering from the same shortfall in pace that has been a common thread in their recent toils Down Under.
Yet the embrace of pace should not obscure the need for more understated qualities. Indeed, the new batch of the Kookaburra ball, combined with spicier pitches, means that extreme pace has become less essential to thrive in Australia. Scott Boland, who operates at a speed similar to Potts and Woakes, took 21 wickets at 13.2 in Australia’s series win at home to India. No matter his lack of pace, Sam Cook is the standout bowler in county cricket in recent years. He excelled with the Kookaburra ball in the Championship last summer and is fresh from a fine tour with England Lions to Australia.
English cricket is now in an unusual position: not having to worry about a shortage of pace. The challenge, in Pakistan and beyond, is to ensure that this speed does not come at the expense of balance.
